Today I bring you an autumn-spice warming soup, made with maple-syrup-caramelised pear and roasted parsnips. The grittiness of the pear gives it a wonderful texture, and its sweetness creates a wonderful contrast with the spice blend. The mild parsnip flavour sets the background of this body-warming soup, accompanied by a sequence of spices that will linger in your mouth one after another.
This might be my first recipe which is not actually Spanish, but I wanted to give you a feel of what I tend to eat more frequently. The thing is, during the week my dinner is usually a soup, plus hummus with crackers and some snacks (olives, lupin, nuts, etc.). This means that every week I batch cook a different soup and have it for 4-5 days. Don’t I get bored? No, because the following week I will change. And I’d rather cook all at once than spending one hour in the kitchen every day.
I had the idea to create a seasonal soup, that would be very autumn-like, using seasonal vegetables and spices. I knew I wanted pear and I thought that it would go well with some mild root vegetable. And I wanted it to bring warmth by having a unique spice blend. What a better way than caramelising and roasting to bring out the flavours before blending, right?
CARAMELISED PEAR AND ROASTED PARSNIP SOUP
Serves: 4 people
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
500g parsnips (about 8 small)
2 garlic cloves
1 big onion, chopped
4 pears
1 tbsp. vegan margarine
2 tbsp. maple syrup
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups unsweetened oat milk
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven at 180°C. Scrub the parsnips clean and trim off the ends. Cut them into quarters or halves (depending how thick they are). Add the garlic cloves to the tray (with the peel on). Spray with oil, season with salt and roast for 40-45 minutes.
- Spray a bit of olive oil in a big saucepan and fry the onion. Add the spices once cooked and stir for another 5 minutes.
- Cut the pears into tiny cubes, skin on. On a frying pan, add the margarine on a medium-high heat. When hot, add the pear cubes and cook on all sides until soft but the pieces should still hold their shape. Add the maple syrup and cook for another minute until caramelised.
- When cold enough to handle, chop the roasted parsnips roughly into chunks. Peel the garlic cloves. Add both to the saucepan, plus 3/4 of the caramelised pears. Add the vegetable stock and oat milk and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Blend and serve with the remaining caramelised pears on top.
You can keep the soup and caramelised pear stored separately in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Bon profit!